AWWA ACE65209

In South Korea, the City of Seoul Water Works (SWW) has conducted a customer tap water quality certification program since November 2001. The program is part of its water quality management system to enhance reliability and meet customer satisfaction of its municipal drinking water supply. Under this program more than 50,000 drinking water taps are checked each year. A total of 404,747 taps have been covered by SWW since 2001. The targeted sites include apartment complexes, schools, households, public parks, and shopping malls. In addition to SWW employees, the customer tap water quality certification team consists of representatives from environmental or citizen groups. While SWW's finished water meets the national water quality standards set forth by the Korea Ministry of Environment, it is well documented that city water can deteriorate upon standing in customers' water storage systems that have not been properly maintained. Many residential and commercial facilities in the city have indoor water storage systems. At each targeted site the team collects a cold water sample from a faucet and examines the conditions and integrity of the water pipes and storage systems. Each water sample is tested on-site for five parameters including chlorine residual. If the water meets the national drinking water quality standards, the team issues and attaches a water quality certificate to the faucet. If it does not meet the standards, the following secondary parameters including E. coli are tested back in the laboratory. If the team finds inadequate plumbing or poor sanitary conditions that could create water quality problems, they provide guidance to the occupant to correct the problems and keep a record of the conditions of the site until the problems are solved. If depletion of the residual chlorine occurs due to excessive water age by detention in a storage tank maintained in a home or business, the team recommends that the customer's water be supplied directly from public mains. Replacement or rehabilitation of a residence's plumbing is also suggested if the piping is severely deteriorated. The Customer Tap Water Quality Certification (CTWQC) teams have identified customers' needs; customers not only want to know about their tap water quality but also realize the importance of maintaining their water storage systems for water quality protection. The CTWQC program has contributed to the enhancement of customer confidence and satisfaction on tap water quality and the formation of partnerships with customers and environmental and citizen groups. Includes 3 references, tables, figures.